Thurles Sarsfields hardly break a sweat as they seal final four place with an easy win over Drom

FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship Quarter-Final

Thurles Sarsfields 0-24

Drom & Inch 1-12

Thurles Sarsfields booked their place in the last four of this year’s FBD Insurance Senior Hurling Championship with a level of ease that surprised everyone in FBD Semple Stadium, as Drom & Inch scarcely laid a finger on their opponents in the final game of a semi-final double-header on Sunday evening.

This game was over as a contest by half time as Thurles had it so easy that the first half exchanges in particular resembled the intensity of a challenge game, with Thurles moving the ball around un-hindered and with their forwards on form along with Stephen Cahill who gave a man of the match performance with five from play, it was as easy as it could get from a Sarsfields perspective.

Drom will be so disappointed with their effort as they simply never got into the game as they were steamrolled in the first quarter, and it will be particularly galling after playing so well in their opening two games of their group campaign where they had secured top spot with a game in reserve.

But the JK Brackens game in which they lost on the final day was no flash in the pan as they were so flat on that day in Templetuohy and they couldn’t turn around their form despite having a three-week break as this result rounded off a dismal weekend for the men in green after their intermediate team lost out to Golden Kilfeacle earlier in the weekend.

A fast start was going to be a prerequisite for Drom to make this game competitive judging by much of the pre-match talk about the Sarsfields engine purring nicely in the last month, but a slow start is what Drom produced with Sarsfields looking razor-sharp in the first quarter.

Stephen Cahill was proving too hot handle in the early exchanges as he hit his first of four first-half points inside the first minute after being found in space by Conor Stakelum, but Seamus Callanan was quick into the game soon after with an equalizing point from play.

Indeed, it was all Sarsfields in the first ten minutes as the looseness of the Drom players was almost unbelievable with Sarsfields pinging the ball around without any challenge in many cases, as two Aidan McCormack points from play and another smartly finished Stephen Cahill point had them ahead 0-4 to 0-1 after six minutes.

Drom were allowing far too much space in their third of the pitch and Thurles were running amok again right after a Seamus Callanan free in the eighth minute Conor Staklelum took a challenge well to spin and score two minutes after; Cahill continuing to be a huge issue for Drom now, scoring his third with only ten minutes of play with a beauty under the new stand to put Thurles ahead by four.

Ronan Maher was sitting in defence to good effect so far, but in fairness, the players in blue were winning all the duels all over the pitch by this point, but Drom kept in touch with a long-range point from Fintan Purcell and a well-taken David Collins effort after knocking down a long ball into his path.

However, Thurles were still the team on top despite those efforts, and in the next ten minutes they bagged six points in succession with Billy McCarthy, Cathal Moloney, Seanie Butler, and a powerful run and point out of defence from Ronan Maher making it Thurles 0-12 to Drom’s 0-5. The game quickly getting away from Drom.

The Drom heads were beginning to drop now with Thurles playing the game on their terms with a couple of very impressive scores from Seamus Callanan and a major from distance from Podge Campion, Thurles finished the half the stronger Stephen Maher finding a class effort from the old stand from a distance while the half-finished as it started; with a Stephe Cahill point to give Sarsfields a commanding advantage at half time, leading 0-15 to 0-8.

Fortunes did not improve for Drom from the restart, despite taking a lot of time to re-emerge from the dressing room as Sarsfields hit two quick points, again Stephen Cahill seemingly with the freedom of Semple Stadium pointing after two minutes which was followed immediately by a long effort from midfield by Conor Stakelum.

The jig looked up even at that early stage as Murphy’s Law was being applied harshly to everything Drom attempted, and with Sarsfield's tails up it was only ever going to end in one result; the only question now was the margin between the teams by the final whistle.

It took 11 minutes for Drom to break their second-half duct through a well-finished first of the day by Robbie Long, but it was to be fruitless as Sarsfields were now in cruise control with Ronan Maher protecting the D with authority, while the forward unit continued to profit with substitute Tommy Doyle picking off a smart effort while Aidan McCormack (2) and Ronan Maher hit frees over to open up a massive 13-point lead at 0-22 to 0-9.

The remainder was nothing more than two teams playing out time and despite Drom getting a late consolation goal from Tony Cahill in the 59th minute, it was all too late coming as Conor Stakelum frees and a beauty from Darragh Stakelum late on finished the game in style for Sarsfields who now look like the team to beat going into the last four.

Thurles Sarsfields: Paddy McCormack; Paul Maher, Denis Maher (0-1), Stephen Maher (0-1); James Armstrong, Ronan Maher (0-2, 0-1f), Michael Purcell; Stephen Cahill (0-5), Cathal Moloney (0-1); Billy McCarthy (0-1), Conor Stakelum (0-4, 0-2f), Aidan McCormack (0-6, 0-4f); Darragh Stakelum (0-1), Seanie Butler (0-1), Eoin Purcell.

Subs used: Tommy Doyle (0-1) for Butler (24, inj); Conor Lanigan for E Purcell (46); David Corbett for C Moloney (51); Paddy Creedon for A McCormack (53); Cian Stakelum for McCarthy (58).

Drom & Inch: Eoin Collins; Kevin Hassett, Lorcan Campion, Emmett Moloney; Fintan Purcell (0-1), Podge Campion (0-1), Stevie Nolan; John Campion (0-1), Robbie Long (0-2); Seamus Callanan (0-5, 0-3f), Johnny Ryan, Maidhc Fitzpatrick; Tommy Nolan, David Collins (0-1), Jamie Moloney.

Subs used: Jack Lillis (0-1) for J Ryan (37); Tony Cahill (1-0) for Fitzpatrick (37); Mikey Connors for F Purcell (44).

Referee: Michael Kennedy (Newcastle)